The talent pool of this year's crop of 3-year-olds runs deep, as witnessed over the last few weeks in major Kentucky Derby (gr. I) prep races. An armada of lesser crafts set out April 21 at Keeneland for the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (gr. II) to test the waters one final time before the main event takes place at Churchill Downs in two weeks. Instead of a boat race, the majority of them found choppy seas and roiling water that all but grounded their Derby dreams on the rocks. Just the opening of the starting gate alone had several starters bailing instead of sailing.

If you heard a shot ring out at Aqueduct on March 18, it was just another of those Benny and Buzz bullets that have been known on occasion to blast a hole in the wind. The latest speeding bullet from the Benny Perkins Jr./Buzz Chace arsenal is Richly Blended, a son of Rizzi who left his field for dead in the $200,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III).